Woodland and Davis are one step closer to a system that provides water from the Sacramento River. A new water treatment plant will reduce both cities' dependence on well water.

The Woodland Davis Clean Water Agency has approved a contract with the company CH2MHill to build and operate the plant in Woodland for $141.2 million.

Dennis Diemer is the agency's general manager. He says the facility is needed in part to reduce the volume of chemicals in both the drinking water and wastewater discharge.

"Both communities are currently 100 percent dependent on groundwater. Their groundwater well system is over-taxed," he says. "They have difficulties with a number of constituents in their groundwater supply."

Diemer says the biggest concerns have been Hexavalent Chromium and Selenium.

"Both communities will be able to not only meet both current and future water regulations, but will also supply them with a sustainable water supply from a quantity standpoint," he says. "And it will also allow them to meet discharge requirements from their wastewater treatment systems."

The plant will be built about five miles from the Sacramento River near Interstate 5 and County Road 23. Fifteen miles of pipe and a new water intake facility are also part of the project.

The estimated total project cost is $227 million. The project should be completed by September 2016.